A Lonely Life
by Dragex
Summary: Jeremiah should have been living a satisfactory life for he had almost all that a man could want. A truly monstrous abode that was more of a blocky stone fortress. But one thing was missing. A companion. Someone to share conversation with on lonely evenings. Someone to share with all of Jeremiah's accomplishments. To say the least, Jeremiah was lonely.


**A Lonely Life**

Jeremiah was lonely.

He seemed to have a satisfactory life, though. His abode was a blocky fortress made from chiseled stone bricks and designs that emanated beauty all across the Overworld. Torches and glowstone greatly lit up the area like that of the burning splendor of a star on the Overworld. The place was truly massive, at least one hundred blocks wide and long; it was better seen a castle than a house to Jeremiah. Twenty block tall walls surrounded the so-called house with towering grace. The main building was a rectangular prism that was fifty blocks tall with windows gazing down at the dreary swampland surrounding it like an army that would never move. The whole thing was magnificent, especially in the noonday sun gleaming through the light cloud cover like a torch beholding golden light; Jeremiah did build it all by himself over days and days of work that seemed never-ending and his hunger barely ever found sustenance during those days. At some points, Jeremiah was proud of what he had accomplished with his bare, weathered hands, but some days he just couldn't feel the joy. It was as if some days just were not as cheerful as others, which is understandable.

But something was missing that Jeremiah could not get out of his mind; something that would systematically nag at his internal thoughts until he could evade it no longer. He had no one to share his palace with, and no one to talk to on evenings that dragged on with no one else there. He longed for someone to keep him company, some one that he would be accustomed to, someone he could relate to, but no one ever came. Everyday coming back from the mines or waking up, he would make a quick wish to Notch that he may find another living soul of a person who stumbled upon his castle. His wishes were never answered, though, for no one came close enough to see his monument of stone that stood proudly over the landscape. It was as if he spawned millions of blocks away from the nearest person.

Today was unlike to any other before it. As usual, he had already eaten breakfast, and was now getting ready to go on his usual hunt for that blue rock that always seemed to evade him no matter his efforts. He only had found enough diamonds for a sword and pickaxe over all of the years he had lived in Minecraftia. Everyday ever since he found his last diamond he would search to the ends of the Overworld in a hunt to acquire just one more diamond. Sometimes he would be gone for mere hours, and other times he would be gone for weeks lost in the tunnels. He would eventually starve or perish from monsters if he was down there for more than a full day, but sometimes he would get lucky and survive.

His life felt like a pattern that would never end, nothing ever changed. He had been searching for as long as he could remember. His life almost mirrored the earth; nothing ever changed as the same routine of weather and mobs spawning never seemed to be different.

He was gathering his required equipment for another trek to the caves in his storage room. The room was dimly lit even though Jeremiah always went in there. He had never found a reason for anything more than the redstone torches clinging to the sides. The room was heavy with the dank odor of unclean floors and walls that had not but felt the touch of a hand in so long. Chests lined the walls of the cramped room like a bustling crowd of people that suddenly stood still in the midst of their most confused state. There were many different sections to choose from, signs above every chest stating what it was for. It seemed to Jeremiah that the signs were of no real purpose anymore for he had already remembered where every chest was. He first went to the tool section, and found a blunt iron pickaxe that was of half durability; Jeremiah could only hope it did not break in the entirety of his travels in the mines. There was a chest full of each tool, all of them iron for he was still hunting for diamonds and he dare not used his diamond pickaxe that he would save only for a journey to get obsidian. He also acquired an iron shovel before going to the armor and combat section for iron armor and an iron sword. He then got some cooked porkchops from the food section before leaving the messy room to set out to the mines.

He trudged through tunnels of stonebricks to get through the massive castle-like house for minutes before getting to the entrance. The world revealed itself with a bright flash of beauty that almost blinded Jeremiah, whose eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the castle. The air was humid, but fresh, and felt good upon its gentle brushing of Jeremiah's weathered face. The sun was high in the sky glimmering down to the waters of the swamps like tongues of flame licking the rippling surface of the dirt-stained cloudy waters that stretched thousands of blocks into the horizon. The darkened trees with branches hung low from the drooping leaves that seemed full of melancholy by their current state stood like depressed giants atop equally dark grass that swayed in the light noon breeze. The land was mostly flat with a few miniscule potholes scattered here and there across the terrain that stretched infinitely towards where the sky and land met, but failed to every reach it. The entrance to the mine was clearly obvious to anyone passing; an intricate entrance building sat atop it that would stop any monsters from getting out of the mines into the Overworld above.

To most, this scene would have been perceived as a dream come true. But Jeremiah just sighed. He had gotten used to the exquisite beauty, barely anything amazed him anymore other than the occasional lapis lazuli or gold in the complex system of mines. It was all the same to Jeremiah, he had gotten used to the same places; the things that he used to find simply exquisite as though mirroring a dream just did not seem particularly as they had beforehand. Of course, he would occasionally venture out into the world or the mines and explore new places to get a view of the world outside the places he was used to. But even that did not help his troubled and longing mind that rest could not avail.

He slowly trudged to the caverns with a pick in hand with no hopes of finding anything of use like the past few weeks. Hope had evaded him ever since he had found the last precious diamond. He could still remember finding the small glimmer of blue light that seemed to call to his inner soul that had been lost in the vastness of the seemingly infinite expanse of caves. At this point, searching seemed almost fruitless for he always found the same artifacts that held no meaning. But something kept him searching. Perhaps his persistence told him to keep striving to that singular goal that was finding all but a single diamond in the cave. Perhaps Want convinced him to just obtain one more of the stuff. Jeremiah himself does not even know; the innermost thoughts in his mind were almost as if they were hidden from Jeremiah completely.

In the caves, the soft clicking of his shoes was the only thing that permeated the seemingly everlasting silence of the caverns. Jeremiah followed his usual arrangement of torches that he had unwillingly memorized at this point until he got to an area that was unlit. After what seemed like hours to Jeremiah but was only but a miniscule selection of minutes in real life, he finally came across a torch-less area of cave. He then proceeded to go into the new-found area and explore it as he would always do.

This was when Jeremiah could no longer seem to think, only crave for even a pixel of that evading blue-tinted gem. By this point, Jeremiah was a victim of Greed itself, and there was no turning back. He was, quite simply, enslaved unknowingly.

Others would find the usual task very tedious, but Jeremiah found it normal. He dare not stop the search for Greed would overcome him, and he would not be able to think clearly any longer.

Time dragged on as though it was being burdened by quite an assortment of chains and metals of every kind. Jeremiah found the job repetitive, but he dare not stop. Minutes went by. Then hours. Or had they? For all Jeremiah could think or comprehend, he may have only been in the caves for all but a few seconds. All Jeremiah could think about was that the longer he went without that diamond, the more his mind yearned for it. He wanted to feel the smooth, crystalline texture of the gem once more.

The occasional creeper or skeleton did not intimidate him as much as they did when he had first seen them. He would accessorize his many iron swords, and continue to slash his way through any monsters that stood in his way of the blue gem.

Time went slow. Greed dragged him to go forward. Fatigue plagued him. It seemed as though nothing could go wrong at this point. And nothing did. In fact, something miraculous happened.

Jeremiah had been trudging past corners for however long his mind could comprehend it as when he periodical flash of light that glinted off of some mysterious object on the other side of the tunnel. To Jeremiah's left was a flowing stream of lava that emanated heat like the inner sanctum of the earth that was trying to escape. The heat of the red, soupy liquid radiated onto Jeremiah's skin, causing him to sweat uncomfortably. He guessed that the lava was the source of light that the object in question had glinted off of for there were no torches in the immediate area. Jeremiah decided to get a closer look for he could not see too clearly what the object was.

As he got closer, Jeremiah realized to the utmost certain extent that the object was not, in fact, an object, but an unmistakably blue-tinted ore of some kind stuck into the very stone of the rigid wall. He got excited at that moment, not thinking, but _knowing_ that the ore must be the singularly exquisite gem known to many as a diamond. He ignored any other physical stimuli around him for his excitement drove him to his goal. He developed tunnel-vision focused on the diamond as Greed took him over. He got his pick ready in his hand to smash the rock to bits only to collect the diamond, or _diamonds_ if he was lucky.

Then he heard a sound. It was such a malicious sound that he would develop chills down his spine that shivered into his very soul.

_CHHHH CHHHH CHHHHHHHHHHH!_

And then an explosion to set flame to a whole forest blew forth in the cave. Jeremiah was only but a few feet from the diamond; he could not comprehend what had happened. His mind buzzed like a hive of bees were living inside his head. The blackness of death surrounded Jeremiah, mocking him of his accidental encounter with the creeper who had taken him victim. His thoughts were scrambled. Was he really that close to his goal? Was it all just a joke from Notch? Could it have been a dream that had never really happened?

But there he was. He respawned into the outlying swamps around his monolithic fortress of stone. Then something happened that Jeremiah would never quite forget. Something that had been thirsting in inside him would be let free. Something that would change Jeremiah forever until time would no longer function.

"Hello?" a feminine, kind voice behind him questioned to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah immediately turned around to behold who had spoken that word.

It was a girl about Jeremiah's age, her mid-twenties. Her eyes were those of pure gold that twinkled in the afternoon sun like a mirror reflecting light from a glorious glaze of light. Her hair waved dramatically around her shoulders like a rippling ocean that was yearning to be let free in the gruff, cool wind that permeated the swamplands. She wore a battered iron chestplate with no other articles of protection like leggings or a helmet. Only tattered and worn-out jeans with shoes that were ridden with holes provided little protection from the weather. Her complexion was one that was a call for avail and extreme fatigue. Her eyes stared into Jeremiah's as though she were in a state of intense terror. In her callused hand she held a low-durability diamond sword that looked to be on the brink of shattering into dust. From the second Jeremiah looked at her, he knew his loneliness was never to be again.

"Hello, don't worry, I will not hurt you," Jeremiah answered back invitingly. The girl's expression softened to one of relief as though she had not heard those very words in years.

"I-I need some food and w-wat-water-" she did not finish her sentence for she collapsed on the ground, exhausted. Surprised by her sudden collapse, Jeremiah sprinted over to her side, and heaved her into his arms. He then proceeded to struggle over to his fortress that was only fifty blocks away with the girl in his arms.

Although Jeremiah had not even had a quality conversation with the girl, of which her name was not known to Jeremiah, he knew that he had found someone at last who could fulfill his struggle of loneliness.

Someone who he could share all of his accomplishments with.

Someone who he could talk to on lonely afternoons.

At that moment, he realized that this instant was greater than any before it. He realized that a companion was infinitely times greater than a simple diamond that held only acquired physiological need.

At that moment, Jeremiah realized that this girl was singularly the greatest gift from Notch he had ever received in his overall time in Minecraftia.

**-=+#+=-**

**The End!**

**-=+#+=-**

**If you are simply thirsting for more from Jeremiah and this mystery girl, then tell me, and I may or may not create a second chapter to this possibly one-chapter story! It does depend on how busy I am with school and how much fun I will be having with my upcoming Oculus Rift (Yeah, I am very excited for that) **

**In conclusion, thank you all for reading this! I very much appreciate it!**


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